07. Incitements to See that God is our Portion

Incitements to See that God is our Portion

Now, that I may the more effectually provoke you, and stir you up to this great and glorious, this necessary and weighty work, give me leave to propose these following considerations.

[1.] First, Consider that thy present portion, thy present condition, is but miserable and cursed, Leviticus 26:14-39, Deuteronomy 28:15-68. All the earth was cursed upon man’s fall, and till fallen man comes to be interested in God, all his earthly enjoyments are cursed unto him; his honours are cursed, and his riches are cursed, and his preferments are cursed, and his pleasures are cursed; the whole portion of his cup is nothing but a little cursed vanity: Job 20:23-29, ’When he is about to fill his belly, God shall cast the fury of his wrath upon him, and shall rain it upon him while he is eating. He shall flee from the iron weapon, and the bow of steel shall strike him through. It is drawn, and cometh out of the body; yea, the glistering sword cometh out of his gall: terrors are upon him. The increase of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath. This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the heritage appointed unto him by God.’ And so chap. 24:18, ’He is swift as the waters; their portion is cursed in the earth: he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards.’ Proverbs 3:33, ’The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked.’ Malachi 2:2, ’If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.’ There is a real curse and a secret curse, an invisible curse and an insensible curse, that lies upon all their souls that have not God for their portion: Galatians 3:10, ’Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.’ And as there is a curse upon all their souls, so there is a curse upon all their comforts, contentments, and enjoyments, that enjoy not God for their portion. Till a man comes to enjoy God for his portion, all his earthly portions are cursed unto him; but when a man comes to enjoy God for his portion, then all his earthly portions are blessed unto him. O sirs! there is no mitigating of the curse, there is no reversing of the curse, there is no altering of the curse, nor there is no taking of the curse from off your souls, nor from off your earthly portions, but by gaining God to be your portion. O sirs! you will live accursed, and you will die accursed, and you will appear before God accursed, and you will be judged and sentenced by God accursed, and you will be sent to hell accursed, and you will remain to all eternity accursed, if God be not your portion: and therefore oh how should this consideration awaken every sinner to give God no rest till he hath given himself as a portion to him. But,

[2.] Secondly, Consider this, that there is yet a possibility of attaining God to be thy portion, Luke 18:27. All the angels in heaven, and all the men on earth, do not know to the contrary but that God may be thy portion, even thine. If thou art but heartily willing to be divorced from that wicked trinity, the world, the flesh, and the devil, there is no doubt but that God will be thy portion. O sirs! why hath God laid open so clearly and so fully the nature and incomparable excellency of this portion above all other portions before you, but to persuade your hearts, and to draw out your souls to look after this portion, and to make sure this portion, as that wherein all your happiness and blessedness lies? Oh that you were wise to consider that now a prize, an opportunity, is put into your hands, that may make you for ever! You have all the ways, and all the means, and all the helps, and all the advantages imaginable for the obtaining of God to be your portion; so that, if God be not your portion, I shall be so bold to tell you that your destruction is from yourselves, Hosea 13:9. O sirs! though God be a golden mine, yet he is such a mine that may be come at if you will but dig, and sweat, and take pains to purpose, Proverbs 2:2-7; though he be a pearl of infinite price, yet Christ can purchase this pearl for you; though he be a matchless and incomparable portion, yet he is such a portion as may be yours, as will be yours, if you are not wanting to your own souls. Why hath God sent his ambassadors early and late? 2 Corinthians 5:18-20; and why hath he, even to a miracle, continued them amongst you to this very day, but that they should acquaint you with his wonderful readiness and willingness to bestow himself as a portion upon you? O sirs! God is said to be a God of great mercy, and to be rich and plenteous in mercy, and to be abundant in mercy, and to be transcendent and incomparable in mercy; yea, all the mercies of God are sure mercies, they are royal mercies, they are innumerable mercies, they are bottomless mercies, they are unchangeable mercies, and they are everlasting mercies; and therefore there is no reason for any man to despair of obtaining of God for his portion. But,

[3.] Thirdly, Consider that God is a portion-sweetening portion. God is such a portion as will sweeten all other portions; he is a portion that will make every pleasant portion more pleasant, and that will make every bitter portion sweet. Poverty is one man’s portion, and sorrow is another man’s portion, and crosses and losses are a third man’s portion, and reproaches and sufferings are a fourth man’s portion, and sickness and diseases are a fifth man’s portion, &c. But now God is a portion that will sweeten all these portions. You know the tree that Moses cast into the bitter waters of Marah made them sweet, Exodus 15:23-25. Now this tree was a type of Christ, who will certainly sweeten all our bitterest potions. The church complained in that Lament. 3:15, ’that God had filled her with bitterness’ (or, as the Hebrew hath it, ’with bitternesses’), ’and that he had made her drunken with wormwood:’ and yet this very consideration, that ’the Lord was her portion,’ ver. 24, sweetened all. If God be thy portion, there is no condition that can make thee miserable; if God be not thy portion, there is no condition that can make thee happy. If God be not thy portion, in the midst of thy sufficiency thou wilt be in straits; if God be thy portion, in the midst of all thy straits thou shalt enjoy an all-sufficiency in an all-sufficient God, Job 20:22. Till God be thy portion, O sinner, thou wilt never taste anything but death and bitterness in all thy comforts, and in all thy contentments, and in all thy enjoyments. But,

[4.] Fourthly, Consider that all earthly portions are not of that infinite consequence and concernment to you as this portion is. All earthly portions are but the meat that perisheth, John 6:27; they are but moth-eaten and canker-eaten treasures, Matthew 6:19, James 5:3; they are full of uncertainty, yea, they are all over vanity, Ecclesiastes 1:2; they reach not beyond the line of this mortal life; they can neither suit the soul, nor fill the soul, nor satisfy the soul, nor save the soul; they can neither change the heart, nor reform the heart, nor in the least better the heart; they can neither arm a man against temptations, nor lead a man out of temptations, nor make a man victorious over temptations; they can neither direct the conscience when it is in straits, nor relieve the conscience when it is under distress, nor support the conscience when it is under guilt, nor heal the conscience when it is under wounds; they can neither make our peace with God, nor keep our peace with God, nor augment our peace with God; they can neither bring us to Christ, nor unite us to Christ, nor keep us with Christ, nor transform us into the similitude or likeness of Christ; they can neither bring us to heaven, nor fit us for heaven, nor assure us of heaven. In a word, no earthly portion can free us from death, nor in the least avail us in the day of wrath. By all which it is most evident that all earthly portions are of very little consequence and concernment to the sons of men, to the souls of men. Oh, but now God is a portion of infinite consequence and concernment to all the sons and souls of men. No man can hear as he should, nor pray as he should, nor live as he should, nor die as he should, till God be his portion; no man is secure from temporal, spiritual, or eternal judgments, till God be his portion. No man can be happy in this world, or blessed in another world, till God be his portion. O sirs! it is not absolutely necessary that you should have this or that earthly portion, but it is absolutely necessary that you should have God for your portion; for if God be not your portion, all the angels in heaven, nor all the men on earth, cannot prevent your being miserable to all eternity.

[5.] Fifthly, Consider, that till a man comes to have God for his portion, he never comes to be temptation-proof. A man that hath God for his portion is temptation-proof; he will say when tempted, as Themistocles did, Give those bracelets to slaves; and as Basil did, who, when he was offered temporary honour, glory, and wealth, &c., answered, Give me glory which abides for ever, and give me riches, which will endure for ever; and as he did, who, being tempted with offers of money to desert his religion, gave this excellent answer, Let not any think that he will embrace other men’s goods to forsake Christ, who hath forsaken his own proper goods to follow Christ; and as that martyr did, who, when he had riches and honours offered him, if he would recant, answered, Do but offer me somewhat that is better than my Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall see what I will say to you; and as Hormisda, a nobleman in the king of Persia’s court, did, who, because he would not deny Christ, he was put into ragged clothes, deprived of his honours, and set to keep the camels; after a long time, the king seeing him in that base condition, and remembering his former fortunes, he pitied him, and caused him to be brought into the palace, and to be clothed again like a nobleman, and then persuades and tempts him afresh to deny Christ, whereupon this noble spirit presently rended his silken clothes, saying, If for these you think to have me deny my faith, take them again; and so he was cast out with scorn a second time. And what was that that made the apostles temptation-proof, and that made those worthies temptation-proof, Hebrews 11, and that made the primitive Christians temptation-proof, and that made the martyrs in queen Mary’s days temptation-proof? Certainly, nothing more than this very consideration, that God was their portion. Ah! sinners, sinners, you will certainly fall, you will readily fall, you will easily fall, you will frequently fall, you will dreadfully fall before temptations, till you come to enjoy God for your portion. Every blast and every wind of temptation will overset and overturn that man that hath not God for his portion. Such a man may pray a thousand times over and over, ’Lord, lead me not into temptation,’ and yet every day fall before the least temptation, as common experience doth abundantly evidence; whereas a man that hath God for his portion will stand fast like a rock in all storms, yea, in the face of all temptations he will be like mount Zion, that cannot be removed. Luther counsels every Christian to answer all temptations with this short saying, ’Christianus sum,’ I am a Christian; and I would counsel every Christian to answer all temptations with this short saying, ’The Lord is my portion.’ O Christian, when Satan or the world shall tempt thee with honours, answer, ’The Lord is my portion’; when they shall tempt thee with riches, answer, ’The Lord is my portion;’ when they shall tempt thee with preferments, answer, ’The Lord is my portion;’ and when they shall tempt thee with the favours of great ones, answer, ’The Lord is my portion;’ yea, and when this persecuting world shall threaten thee with the loss of thy estate, answer, ’The Lord is my portion;’ and when they shall threaten thee with the loss of thy liberty, answer, ’The Lord is my portion;’ and when they shall threaten thee with the loss of friends, answer, ’The Lord is my portion;’ and when they shall threaten thee with the loss of life, answer, ’The Lord is my portion.’ O sirs! if Satan should come to you with an apple, as once he did to Eve, tell him that ’The Lord is your portion;’ or with a grape, as once he did to Noah, tell him that ’The Lord is your portion;’ or with a change of raiment, as once he did to Gehazi, tell him that ’The Lord is your portion;’ or with a wedge of gold, as once he did to Achan, tell him that ’The Lord is your portion;’ or with a bag of money, as once he did to Judas, tell him that ’The Lord is your portion;’ or with a crown, a kingdom, as once he did to Moses, tell him that ’The Lord is your portion.’ But,

[6.] Sixthly and lastly, If God be not your portion, you will be miserable to all eternity. If God be not your portion, wrath must be your portion, hell must be your portion, everlasting burnings must be your portion, a devouring fire must be your portion, and a separation for ever from the glorious presence of God, Christ, angels, and ’the spirits of just men made perfect,’ must be your portion; as you may clearly see by comparing the Scriptures in the margin together. If God be not your portion in this life, you shall never have him for your portion in another life; if God be not your portion here, he will never be your portion hereafter. O sirs! if death should surprise you before God is your portion, you will as certainly go to hell, as God is in heaven; and therefore it infinitely concerns you to get God for your portion. There is no way in the world to make the king of terrors to be a king of desires to thy soul, O man, but by gaining God for thy portion. Of all terribles, death will be most terrible and formidable to that man that hath not God for his portion. If thou shouldst live and die, O man, without having God for thy portion, it had been good for thee that thou hadst never been born; and if the day of thy birth had been the day of thy death, thy hell would not have been so hot as now thou wilt certainly find it.